tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45409671779395381592019-03-01T01:37:11.936-08:00Snitching.orgCriminal informant law, policy, and research.A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comBlogger282125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-86783772182559608792018-12-10T12:22:00.001-08:002018-12-10T12:22:48.588-08:00Professor Robert Bloom on jailhouse informant expert testimony
Professor Robert Bloom is an expert on informants who has testified in numerous cases. He has now authored this article,What Jurors Should Know about Informants: The Need for Expert Testimony, Mich. St. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2019). Here is the abstract:
With the advent of DNA exonerations, the data would indicate that many individuals have been wrongly convicted. In looking at the causes A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-2361253199590165322018-12-05T17:58:00.000-08:002018-12-05T18:00:21.213-08:00Illinois enacts nation's strongest law on jailhouse informant testimonyLast week, the Illinois legislature overrode the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 1830, which will enact the strongest law in the nation to prevent wrongful convictions based on false jailhouse informant testimony. The Illinois Innocence Project and the national Innocence Project supported the law, which was authored by Senator Michael Hastings (D-Tinley Park) and Rep. Art Turner (D-Chicago). Michelle Feldmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10213218514870196758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-84009410783653042762018-11-25T10:27:00.000-08:002018-11-25T10:27:25.634-08:00Georgia prison official loses his job for objecting to informant programThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Georgia prison captain Sherman Maine was fired when he objected to a secret, off-the-books informant program being run in high security prisons in which informants were given cell phones. From the story:
"Maine said the secrecy of the program makes it impossible to know if the reward is worth the risk. 'Now every stabbing becomes suspect,' said A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-68166502375179248452018-11-18T09:53:00.000-08:002018-11-18T09:53:13.271-08:00Multimillion-dollar drug bounties for informantsBloomberg recently explored the State Department's Narcotics Reward Program which offers bounties for information on high-ranking drug traffickers: America’s Multimillion-Dollar Bounty Program Just for Drug Lords. As always, the program accepts the risk of rewarding and protecting serious, violent criminals in exchange for information about other potentially more serious, violent criminals. AsA. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-51557285356953410492018-09-26T13:32:00.002-07:002018-09-26T13:32:40.402-07:00The pressure to become an ICE informantThe Intercept published this extensive story on the ICE informant program, how individual migrants can be coerced into becoming informants, and how the practice intersects with various aspects of the immigration apparatus: Play to Stay: Undocumented Immigrant Faces a Choice: Become an Informant for ICE or Be Deported. The piece documents both the relatively robust regulatory structure that ICE A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-72561043129815432422018-08-30T13:02:00.001-07:002018-08-30T13:10:43.724-07:00Illinois Governor Makes Disappointing Move on Jailhouse Informant LawLast month, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed Senate Bill 1830, a protection against wrongful convictions based on unreliable jailhouse informant testimony, despite the bill passing the legislature with bipartisan support. There will likely be an opportunity for the legislature to override the veto in November.
In Illinois, jailhouse informants have played
a role in 17 wrongful convictions Michelle Feldmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10213218514870196758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-62130106890390085432018-08-23T11:16:00.000-07:002018-08-23T11:56:08.647-07:00President Trump gets snitching backwardsPresident Trump has attacked "flipping" and cooperation, saying that "it should almost be illegal," according to the New York Times. Reacting to his lawyer Michael Cohen's plea deal, Trump says “I know all about flipping. For 30, 40 years I have been watching flippers. . . . I have seen it many times. I have had many friends involved in this stuff.”
The irony is that Trump is attacking A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-21328011684396847232018-08-07T15:44:00.001-07:002018-08-07T15:44:41.686-07:00Prisoners have a First Amendment right not to snitchThe Second Circuit has decided an extraordinarily important case, Burns v. Martuscello, in which the court held that prison officials violated an inmate's First Amendment rights when they tried to coerce him into being an informant. Writing that "compelled speech presents a unique affront to personal dignity," the court decided that prison officials acted unconstitutionally when they placed A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-75040988490579994382018-08-06T16:14:00.000-07:002018-08-06T16:14:06.220-07:00Coercion of Intelligence InformantsDiala Shamas, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, has just published this informative article in the Brooklyn Law Review: A Nation of Informants: Reigning In Post-9/11 Coercion of Intelligence Informants. Here is the abstract:
"This article challenges the adequacy of the existing legal and regulatory framework governing informant recruitment and coercion practices to A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-41887291005551676002018-07-03T12:19:00.000-07:002018-07-03T12:19:10.420-07:00Snitches snitching on snitchesI write critically about criminal informants, but it bears remembering how they enabled the FBI to break the mafia. In June, mob boss "Cadillac Frank" Salemme was convicted of ordering the murder of a witness. Key witnesses against Salemme included Stephen "Rifleman" Flemmi, infamous killer informant in his own right who avoided the death penalty by testifying against Salemme and others. A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-76766059550836573182018-06-21T13:09:00.000-07:002018-06-21T13:09:03.088-07:00ALEC promotes informant legislative reformBetter known for its advocacy on behalf of business and economic growth, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has issued new model Jailhouse Informant Regulations. They require state's attorneys to keep track of informants who provide information or testimony, to record all benefits promised or given to informants, and to provide full disclosure of an informant's criminal record, A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-38793278959981919462018-06-14T10:45:00.002-07:002018-06-14T10:45:55.418-07:00Jailhouse informants used threats to get confessionsThis piece from Ted Rohrlich, who is now writing for Injustice Watch, chronicles the use of two Mexican Mafia informants in Southern California who sometimes threatened their cellmates to get them to confess. The informants, whose work came to light as part of the Orange County snitch scandal, were paid over $300,000 over six years by law enforcement in multiple counties. They also received A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-15159484606386528932018-05-23T11:01:00.000-07:002018-06-05T10:38:37.953-07:00Illinois legislature passes new informant reformBy Michelle Feldman
In April, the Illinois legislature passed new legislation that would require pre-trial reliability hearings and specific disclosure requirements before jailhouse informant testimony is admissible in the most serious criminal cases. Now Senate Bill 1830 is awaiting action by the governor.
Illinois has been on the forefront of safeguarding against wrongful convictions Michelle Feldmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10213218514870196758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-70047277496982045672018-05-23T10:59:00.002-07:002018-05-23T10:59:59.888-07:00Welcome legislative blogger Michelle FeldmanI am happy to announce that Michelle Feldman is joining the blog as co-curator of the legislation section. Feldman is the Legislative Strategist at the Innocence Project and has been involved in numerous informant reform efforts across the country. She is highly knowledgeable and will bring expertise and up-to-date insight to the blog. We are lucky to have her!A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-18729183977694436502018-05-16T20:07:00.003-07:002018-05-16T20:07:58.514-07:00Nebraska considered jailhouse informant reformEarlier this year, Nebraska introduced legislation that would have enhanced protections against unreliable jailhouse informants, including reliability hearings, enhanced disclosure requirements, and mechanisms to keep track of the government's use of such informants. The text of the bill (which is currently on hold) is here; story in the Lincoln Journal Star is here. A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-91398331646183480982018-05-05T11:49:00.000-07:002018-07-16T11:04:51.428-07:00The developing science of informant cognitionBehavioral psychologists have been studying the informant phenomenon, especially the thorny question of why jurors believe unreliable informants even when they know that the informants have strong incentives to fabricate evidence. Some of those studies can be found here in the Resources & Scholarship section.
A group of researchers recently published this study finding that information from an A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-15591687192419844832018-05-05T11:15:00.003-07:002018-05-05T11:15:54.917-07:00Test your knowledge of jailhouse snitchesThe Orange County scandal has kept public attention focused on the jailhouse informant phenomenon. This quiz published in The Marshall Project assembles some dramatic examples, and reminds us of the wide variety of benefits that informants receive, how little regulation the Supreme Court has imposed on the practice, and how easy it is for informants to collude with each other.A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-26966501009831799732018-04-03T10:26:00.000-07:002018-04-03T10:34:07.879-07:00ICE marks 17-year-old informant for deportation and deathProPublica and New York Magazine published this story about Henry, a teenager in Brentwood, Long Island, who agreed to inform on his MS-13 gang to the FBI. The federal government then decided to deport him back to El Salvador, leaving him unprotected against the gang: A Betrayal: The teenager told police all about his gang, MS-13. In return, he was slated for deportation and marked for death.A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-12411460664655556732018-03-09T09:34:00.001-08:002018-03-09T09:34:34.947-08:00The full Orange County snitch scandal from the Huffington PostHuffington Post offers this comprehensive retelling of the entire Orange County snitch scandal, from the first revelations all the way to Scott Dekraai's 8 life sentences, with reactions from the victims' families: A Mass Shooting Tore Their Lives Apart. A Corruption Scandal Crushed Their Hopes For Justice.A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-28716132056177295632018-02-14T14:07:00.001-08:002018-02-14T14:07:25.384-08:00Experiments on the impact of inducements
Scholars at the University of Arizona Law School have published a paper entitled "Incentives, Lies and Disclosure," 20 U. Pa. J. Con L. 33 (2018). They conduct a number of behavioral experiments and conclude that incentivized witnesses like jailhouse informants are more likely to lie, and that even when potential jurors are told about the incentives, they still believe the witness. Here is theA. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-28668410975755522372017-10-13T11:49:00.002-07:002017-10-13T11:49:26.075-07:00Recordings of FBI informant recruiting tacticsThe Intercept has published a story of a man who documented and recorded nearly two years of efforts by the FBI to pressure him into becoming an informant. Story and recordings here: Recordings Capture Brutal FBI Tactics to Recruit a Potential Informant. The story is by Trevor Aaronson, author of "The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism."A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-22914896370534983312017-09-29T18:07:00.001-07:002017-09-29T18:07:12.115-07:00States take a fresh look at snitchingHere's an op-ed I wrote for The Crime Report chronicling the latest wave of state legislative reform. Some highlights:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->-
<!--[endif]-->Texas
passed comprehensive reform requiring prosecutors to track and disclose their
informants’ criminal history, past testimony, and benefits. The New York Times called it “the most
comprehensive effort yet to rein in the A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-58748605328638337202017-09-22T17:30:00.001-07:002017-09-22T17:30:34.402-07:00Insight into FBI informant criminal activityThe FBI reports to the Department of Justice the total "Otherwise Illegal Activity" (OIA) that it authorizes its informants to engage in. In its most recent report due to an error, some of that data was missing--the total was down from 5,261 crimes to 381. The FBI explains that “When the FBI submitted 2016 data to the Justice Department regarding the Confidential Human Source Program one tier A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-34085057603111361222017-07-19T19:57:00.002-07:002017-07-19T19:58:51.010-07:00Texas passes strong new informant disclosure lawAt the recommendation of the Timothy Cole Commission, Texas has passed strong new legislation requiring the government to collect a range of data on its jailhouse informants, including prior testimony and benefits, and to turn that data over to the defense. The bill is here.
And here is the New York Times Editorial Board's glowing review of the new law, Texas Cracks Down on the Market for A. Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11450113400059853733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540967177939538159.post-7934727711084868572017-05-03T12:30:00.000-07:002017-05-13T10:28:55.790-07:00Prosecutor in Willingham case tried for ethics violation, and acquittedOriginally posted May 3: In a rare display of potential discipline, the prosecutor who misused a jailhouse informant against Cameron Todd Willingham--John Jackson--is on trial for ethics violations. "Specifically, the state’s lawyers contend that Jackson made a deal with a jailhouse snitch who agreed to testify against Willingham and then hid that deal from Willingham’s defense attorneys — a Natapoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06728287108140274969noreply@blogger.com